Possible Essay Questions for the Final Exam (Units 06-10)
1. Using information from the textbooks, lectures, and videos, discuss the rise of the Cold War between 1945-1959. What were the major disagreements, and issues that separated the United States and the Soviet Union in this time period? What was “containment”? How, why, and where did the US try to counter the spread of communism?
2. Using information from the textbooks, lectures, and videos, discuss the black civil rights movement of the 1960s. How did the reaction of many southern whites to the civil rights activities ironically serve to help the cause of black Americans? What spurred the US Congress to pass legislation in 1964 and 1965? What were these important civil rights laws of 1964 and 1965? How did some black Americans in the late 1960s react when it became clear that the legislative victories of 1964 and 1965 were not enough to erase the effects of racial and economic discrimination?
3. Using information from the textbooks, lectures, and videos, discuss the foreign policy of the Nixon administration. Explain the concepts of détente and the Nixon Doctrine. How did these policies mark a departure from previous American approaches to the Cold War? Be sure to give definitive examples of his policies in action, particularly the relationships between the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Soviet Union.
4. Using information from the textbooks, lectures, and videos, describe the aims and rhetoric of Reagan’s foreign policy. How did his goals differ from those of earlier presidents during the Cold War? What effects did the Reagan Doctrine and U.S. military spending have on the strategy and economy of the Soviet Union? What role did Reagan’s policies play in the downfall of the Soviet Union and its communist satellites?
5. Using information from the textbooks, lectures, and videos, describe the policies and presidency of Bill Clinton. What did he do and attempt to do in the first two years of his presidency? Explain why the congressional elections of 1994 and the “Contract with America” were so significant. How did Bill Clinton alter his presidential agenda after 1994? What is triangulation? What were some of the political and economic results?
use this textbook link (chapter 28 to 32)
https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/1-introduction